


Insecurities

by treeandcarter



Category: Happy Death Day (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:14:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28694535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treeandcarter/pseuds/treeandcarter
Summary: Carter doesn’t think he deserves to be with Tree. She sets him straight.
Relationships: Carter Davis/Tree Gelbman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	Insecurities

It’s just starting to get dark as Tree and Carter head out from the cafeteria. Tree hesitantly intertwines their fingers together as they walk, and Carter grins at her, squeezing her hand in his own.

“So, what do you wanna do now?” Tree asks, looking at him expectantly. The question lingers in the air between them, and Carter yet again feels struck with the fear of disappointing her. There are plenty of things he’d love to do with her, but none of them are feasible now, in this moment—or in any moment, for that matter. _God, I’m so boring._

“Um, I don’t know,” Carter answers honestly, his mouth vaguely forming a frown. “We can just, y’know, go home and watch a movie or something.” God, it sounds so lame. Here he has this beautiful, funny, wild girl with him and all he can think to do with her is sit in his dorm and watch a movie?

Tree is unphased, of course. “Sure, that sounds perfect!” And to Carter’s disbelief, it sounds like she really means it. She swings their arms together as they walk, and Carter can’t help but feel a bit smug as he walks hand in hand with the most beautiful girl on campus. If you’d told him two weeks ago that he’d be doing this with someone like _her_ , he’d have laughed in your face. But it feels so natural, being with her—so natural that he can almost let his insecurities wash away.

_Almost._

They walk in a comfortable silence for a bit until Tree starts to speak, her low voice music to Carter’s ears. “Hey, I wonder if—oh, wait, you have a fuzzy.” She stops walking in the middle of the courtyard and squints up at him.

Carter chuckles and starts wiping at his cheek. “A fuzzy?” he asks, amused. He lowers his voice in a joking manner. “Is it fatal?”

“It could be. We’d better be careful.” Giggling, Tree reaches up and brushes his cheek with her thumb, brushing away the fuzz and simultaneously sending shivers up and down his spine. If just the simplest of touches from her is _that_ exhilarating, Carter can’t even begin to imagine how it’ll feel to have sex with her. (Although he already has imagined it. Many times.)

Tree blows the fuzzy away and they follow it with their eyes, watching it blow away in the breeze. Tree’s attention turns back to Carter, and she smiles that sweet smile that he loves so fucking much. “There, all better.” Then, before he can say anything, she leans up and kisses his cheek where the fuzzy once was, her sweet lips marking the spot with strawberry lip gloss. He may never wash his face again. He doesn’t deserve this.

He doesn’t deserve her.

Carter’s grin fades to a sad smile, which he punctuates with a sigh. Tree takes hold of his hand again, though Carter’s grip is much looser this time around as he trudges slowly behind her. Tree puts up with it for all of 30 seconds before she halts and spins around on her heels. “Okay, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not stupid, Carter, I can tell something’s up. So either you tell me what it is, or I guess I’m just never wearing this lip gloss again.”

“No, I like that one. It…tastes good,” Carter murmurs as he starts to blush. 

“Then what’s going on?” Tree’s expression softens. “You can tell me.”

Carter swallows as he looks at her concerned expression. “I just can’t believe any of this is real.”

“Any of what?”

“You. Us. It doesn’t make any sense, and I’m just...wondering how long this is going to last.” 

“Ouch.”

“No, I just mean—Tree, you’re so fucking amazing, and I’m just…well, me. I’m just me. It doesn’t make sense for you to be so into me.”

Tree frowns at him. “Carter—”

“It doesn’t, okay? I get it, someone saves your life once and you feel indebted to them, like you owe them something. Or maybe the heroism makes you more attracted to them. Like in that—” Tree raises an eyebrow at him, as if to say, _Whatever movie reference you’re about to make, I won’t get it_. “Never mind. I’m just saying, whatever it is...I’m worried it’s gonna wear off.” It stings as Carter says it. He wants it to last forever. But there’s no way he’d get that lucky.

Tree looks completely dumbfounded. “ _Wear off?_ Have you not listened to anything I’ve told you in the past couple weeks?”

“What do you—”

“Carter. My mom was alive in the other dimension. I could’ve been with my mom, but I came back here. For you.”

Carter shakes his head. “Why would you do that?”

“I just said! To be with you.”

“But why risk all of that? I’m just me.”

“Exactly! You’re _you_!” she exclaims. “You’re Carter. You’re caring. You’re crazy smart. You’re brave. You’re so…sweet and gentle and you always say just the right thing at the right time. You brought me home and cared for me and Jesus, fucking died for me without barely even knowing me. I mean who _does_ that? You’re just the most incredible person and God, you make me laugh, and you make me feel safe, and when I’m with you, I…” Tree swallows. “I can feel that part of me, that part of me that’s been so cold and empty for so long…close up, and I start to feel whole again.” Carter can’t stop grinning at her. She takes a deep breath before continuing. “I know it’s hard because there’s a lot of things you don’t remember doing or saying. But I remember all of it, Carter. And you are so, so special.”

Carter is once again rendered speechless by Tree Gelbman. He wonders if she’ll ever stop having that effect on him; he also wonders what in God’s name he did to deserve someone like her feeling this way about him. He thinks he could live a thousand lifetimes and never understand it. But he has to have faith in her; she isn’t the type to bullshit him. If she didn’t want him, he’d know.

Tree reaches up and cups Carter’s face in her tiny hands. “So don’t you dare tell me that my feelings are gonna ‘wear out’,” she scolds him jokingly, “because I’ve gone through hell and back—literally—to get you, and I really don’t plan on letting you go.” Tree raises an eyebrow at him. “Got it, Davis?”

Carter smiles at her and nods, finally starting to accept that maybe he doesn’t have to worry after all. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” Then Tree’s pulling his head down to press her lips to his. Her kisses are sweet and passionate, and Carter feels his knees go weak. He wraps his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. He wants to bask in this feeling forever, but then they remember that they’re in the middle of the courtyard and pull apart. Tree lightly tugs on the lapel of his shirt and bites her lip, holding back her smile. 

“See? We’re good together.” She’s looking up at him with those big blue eyes, and Carter feels a surge of affection rush through him like an electric current. _Yes. We’re amazing together._

“Yeah,” he agrees, unable to contain his smile. “Yeah, we are.”

They grin at each other for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes, before reality sets back in and Carter takes ahold of her hand again, keeping her close beside him as they walk. Even though it’s still hard for Carter to believe that _she_ chose _him,_ he’s grateful for it, and will do everything he can to prove to himself (and her) that he deserves it. 

After all, he has a lifetime to do so. 

  
  



End file.
